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M26 Pershing
he M26 Pershing was a heavy tank/medium tank of the United States Army. The tank was named after General of the Armies John J. Pershing, who led the American Expeditionary Force in Europe in World War I. It was briefly used in the final months of World War II during the Invasion of Germany and extensively during the Korean War. Intended as a replacement of the M4 Sherman, the prolonged time of development meant that only a small number saw combat in the European theater, most notably in the 9th Armored Division's dramatic dash to take the Ludendorff Bridge during the Battle of Remagen. Based on the criteria of firepower, mobility, and protection, R. P. Hunnicutt ranked the Pershing second, behind the German Panther medium tank, but ahead of the Tiger I heavy tank. In service during the Korean War, the M26 outmatched the T-34-85 in terms of firepower and protection, but was challenged by the hilly and muddy terrain, and as a result was withdrawn in 1951 in favor of its improved derivative, the M46 Patton, which had a considerably more powerful and reliable engine as well as an advanced and improved suspension to better meet the demands of the specific terrain it operated in. The lineage of the M26 continued with the M47 Patton, and was reflected in the new designs of the later M48 Patton and M60 Patton. Overview The M26 Pershing The winter battles of late 1944 and early 1945 finally demonstrated to the US Army’s high command that the M4 Sherman, though providing excellent service in previous years, was wholly inadequate to confront German heavy armour and anti-tank guns. Furthermore, it fatally undermined the prevailing US tank doctrine, which had prescribed leaving the engagement of enemy tanks to the Tank Destroyer battalions, freeing the tanks to support the infantry and exploit gaps in the enemy lines. A new armoured vehicle was needed to better suited to the realities of modern warfare. Fortunately, after a good deal of political debate, the T26E3 heavy tank was put into production in November 1944. The power plant was the same 500 horsepower Ford GAF V8 petrol engine in the latest versions of Sherman. The running gear had six double-bogies per side on a new torsion bar suspension running on a 23”/58cm wide track. Together, these improvements gave the T26 considerable speed for a tank in its weight class. The final production model, the T26E3, was given the name Pershing, in honour of General John Pershing, commander of the American Expeditionary Force in the First World War. The Pershing provided US tankers with a vehicle that greatly improved on the M4 and was roughly comparable to the German Panther. By the end of 1944, the first run of 40 T26E3s was complete and after a great clamour for them, the first batch of 20 arrived in the European Theatre of Operation (ETO) at the end of January 1945 as part of the Zebra Mission—a special mission to test the latest US designs of tanks and guns in combat conditions. These experimental T26s were therefore accompanied by a contingent of specialists to help report and iron out mechanical teething problems. Ten T26E3 tanks were issued to each of the 3rd and 9th Armored Divisions. The 3rd Armored Division allocated five each to its 32nd and 33rd Armored Regiments, who in turn allocated a single example to their five tank companies. Meanwhile, the 9th Armored Division allocated five of its T26s to the 14th Tank Battalion, which grouped them all into a single heavy tank platoon in A Company. The other five were given to the 19th Tank Battalion, which allocated one T26 to A Company and a pair each to B and C Companies. The 3rd ‘Spearhead’ Armored Division completed its training near the end of February and then put their T26s to the test on 25 February during the approach to the Rur River. The following night, near Elsdorf, F Company’s T26, nicknamed ‘Fireball’, was hit three times in an ambush by a ‘Tiger’ and knocked out. The tank was repaired and back in action within a few days.The Pershings had their revenge on 27 February, where 33rd Armored Regiment’s T26 from E Company knocked out a ‘Tiger’ at 900 yards using a special HVAP shell, followed by a standard AP shell. Shortly after, the Pershing also destroyed two Panzer IV tanks at the impressive range of 1200 yards. On 6 March, Sergeant Bob Early’s Pershing of E Company, 32nd Armored Regiment, was filmed flanking and destroying a troublesome Panther outside Cologne cathedral. Other 3rd Armored Division Pershings dispatched a Tiger and a Panzer IV near Cologne, and the T26 of D Company knocked out two further Tigers. Two Pershings were lost approaching Cologne. One of these, belonging to H Company, 33rd Armored Regiment, was permanently written off after being knocked out by a German 8.8cm anti-tank shell from a tank-hunter firing just 200 yards away. After piercing the thick frontal armour, the round went through the forward compartments, between the driver’s legs, and set off the ammunition on the floor of the tank. It was considerable good fortune that all the crew survived! The 9th ‘Phantom’ Armored Division committed their Pershings in the final days of February during the fighting to cross the Roer River. One T26 from 14th Tank Battalion’s heavy tank platoon was disabled on the night of 1 March when it was hit twice by a 150mm field gun. Like ‘Fireball’, it was quickly repaired. The remaining four Pershings of the platoon, led by Lieutenant John Grimball, took part in the capture of the Ludendorff bridge at Remagen on 7 March. Concerns about the ability of the weakened bridge to carry the weight of the Pershings kept the platoon from crossing to the eastern side, so they provided support from the west bank. In March 1945, the T26 was officially designated the M26 Pershing. A few more batches were deployed to Europe before the end of hostilities in May. A batch of 40 arrived at the port of Antwerp in late March and was issued to Ninth Army, which was then divided between the 2nd and 5th Armored Divisions. In April, 30 more were issued to the 11th Armored Division which became the last unit to get Pershings before the German surrender at the beginning of May 1945. By the end of the war, 310 Pershings had arrived in Europe with 200 issued to units. The T26E4 Super Pershing The Pershing’s 90mm gun was powerful, but still lacked the ability to knock out the heavier erman tanks, so an experimental gun was designed and designated the T15 90mm gun. Two examples of these massive guns were mounted in specially-modified Pershings, one of which made it into action with the 3rd Armored Division. This was further modified in the field by adding additional armour plates cut from destroyed German Panthers. The result was America’s first and only super-heavy tank of the war. The Super Pershing engaged the enemy, easily destroying German tanks that it encountered. Its most famous action was a duel with a German Königstiger at Dessau, which the Super Pershing bested after a short but fierce fight. The war ended before more Super Pershings could be built, but the design was considered successful enough to further develop the M26 series into the main battle tank. In Flames of War The Heavy Tank Platoon is a Combat Platoon option for the US Tank Company and a Support Platoon for the Armored Rifle Company. Both these companies can be fielded as the following: * the Reluctant Veterans of the 3rd Armored Division; * the Confident Veteran of the 9th Armored Division or any other unit in V4 Edition. In the V3 Edition, the Heavy Tank Platoon is Confident Veteran even when taken as part of a Reluctant Veteran 3rd Armored Division. The rational is that the superiority of the Pershing to the more vulnerable Sherman restored confidence to those otherwise war-weary tankers of the 3rd Armored Division who were lucky enough to be allocated them. If you want to be historically accurate, only the Confident Veteran 9th Armored Division should have a platoon containing more than one Pershing and should not have the T26E4 Super Pershing available to them. In game terms, the M26 Pershing is very similar to a German Panzer V medium tank or Panther. With both vehicles sharing the same stats for the main gun; Range: 32"/80cm, Anti-tank: 14 and Firepower: 3+; Mobility (Standard Tank) and Frontal Armour (10). Model kits The M26 Pershing was only released in plastic: * UBX43 M26 Pershing Platoon (three tanks with crew figurines and a decal sheet) * USAB07 Patton's Eagles (three M26 Pershings included) * USAB09 US Combat Command (three M26 Pershings included) * TANKS03 Pershing Tank Expansion (one tank with unit cards and upgrade cards). Only the UBX43, USAB09, and TANKS03 sets are currently available on sale. UBX43 and USAB07 contain grey coloured plastic sprues, later sets have olive drab coloured plastic sprues. The parts can be used interchangeably. UBX43b.jpg|The bigger half of the M26 Pershing sprue. UBX43c.jpg|The smaller half of the M26 Pershing sprue. Model assembly The plastic M26 model kit allows building either a regular M26 Pershing tank or the T26E4 Super Pershing variant. The M26 Pershing Hull * Begin assembly by joining the upper and lower hull sections. * Next, attach the hull rear plate to the back of the hull. * Attach the hull machine-gun to the front of the hull. Due to the small size of this component, modelling tweezers will come in handy. * Next, attach the tracks to the hull. * The track fenders are an optional component that can be left off the vehicle during the assembly process if you choose to do so. Pershing crews would often remove these before going into action and the lack of any fenders on your vehicles will add some modelling variety amongst your miniatures. The M26 Pershing Turret * Begin assembly of the M26 Pershing turret by joining the upper and lower turret sections. * Next, attach the turret stowage rack to the side of the turret. * On the opposite side of the turret are locations for two sections of spare track links - a single link closer to the gun mantlet and a three-link set behind them. * Next, attach the gun mantlet rear plate to the front of the turret. The back of the gun mantlet rear plate features the orientation mark 'UP' and an arrow to indicate which direction is up. * Next, attach the gun mantlet to the front of the gun mantlet rear plate. * With the gun mantlet in place, its time to attach the main gun. The end of the main gun has been keyed to fit with the recess located in the gun mantlet. * Next, attach the Commander's hatch to the top of the turret. It can be built either buttoned up or opened to place a commander figurine. * Now it's time to add the .50 cal AA MG to the turret pintle mount located towards the rear of the turret. The T26E4 Super Pershing The Super Pershing is built in a similar way as the regular M26 Pershing, just the turret is composed of different parts. * Follow the steps seen above to assemble the basic hull of the M26 Pershing. * Next, place a tiny amount of glue in the recesses on the rear of the armour plate. * Attach the additional armour plate to the glacis plate of the hull. * Begin assembly of the T26E4 Super Pershing turret by joining the upper and lower turret sections. * Next, attach the gun mantlet rear plate to the front of the turret. * Next, attach the gun mantlet to the front of the gun mantlet rear plate. * Once the gun mantlet is in place, the extra turret armour can be added. The extra turret armour simply slides over the nose of the gun mantlet. * Next, attach the main gun to the gun mantlet. The end of the main gun has been keyed to fit with the recess located in the gun mantlet. * Next, attach the external equilibrator springs to the top right-hand side of the turret. * Next, attach the Commander's hatch to the top of the turret. It is built the exact same way as in M26 Pershing. * Finally, attach the .50 cal AA MG to the turret pintle mount located towards the rear of the turret. The turrets can be joined with the hull by the included turret pegs or with the rare earth magnets. Painting The M26 Pershing is painted in the same way as M4 Sherman tanks in the US Army service. Most of the tanks were completed in the No.9 Lusterless Olive Drab colour, though the AFVs used in the 33rd Armored Regiment of the 3rd Armored Division were camouflage painted with bands of black sprayed over the usual olive drab. The Pershing tanks usually had the recognition marks in the following configuration: * the small US Army stars on turret sides; * one bigger US Army star on the glacis plate; * one 24 cm diameter US Army star in a roundel; * serial numbers on fenders or on the side hull. The US Army decal sheet included in the UBX43 and USAB09 sets provides decals for a full-strength five tank platoon. Combat efficiency The M26 Pershing is first and foremost a well armoured anti-tank asset that should be used to provide over-watch from cover if there is any enemy armour to overcome. The caveat is when facing the heavier German armour when you will need to use your higher speed to manoeuvre and find a flank shot. Despite having Top Armour 2, the M26 Pershing is not as well suited as the regular Sherman for fighting in close or launching assaults. The Pershing has only Side Armour 6 and cannot gain the benefit of Improvised Armour so they are very vulnerable to German hand-held anti-tank weapons such as the Panzerfaust or the Panzerschreck. Both forms of the Pershing have the ability to fire Smoke which can come in handy if you find yourself confronted by a Königstiger or Jagdtiger that you can't get a flank shot on. One thing to remember is that neither version has Protected Ammo so they are a bit harder to recover a vehicle after being bailed out. When taken as part of a Tank Company from Bridge At Remagen it is wise taking the 2iC as an M4A3E2 Jumbo and running that team near the Pershing platoon to help protect these important assets, particularly when running single tank platoons. One thing to think about is a single M26 Pershing is cheaper than the minimum number (3) of Shermans that can be fielded in a Combat Platoon, and around the same price as the Super Pershing. This allows a player to take a cheaper Combat Platoon and spend more on support options or beefing up the other compulsory Sherman platoon. The T26E4 Super Pershing The T26E4 Super Pershing is even more of a long-range Anti-tank sniper than the M26 Pershing and should stay behind the point of the spear picking off priority targets. The T26E4 Super Pershing is basically the American version of the German Königstiger. It's practical to run as a single tank platoon, just as you would run a single Königstiger. Paired with a 2iC M4A3E2 Jumbo, particularly one armed with a 76mm main gun makes a nice area defence team. The long T15E1 90mm gun is the equivalent of the German family of 8.8cm L/71 guns; Range: 40"/100cm; ROF 2; Anti-tank 16 and Firepower 3+. Mobility wise the T26E4 Super Pershing also matches the Königstiger; rated as Slow Tank with the Overloaded attribute. This further commends the T26E4 Super Pershing to a fighting in the wings. The Königstiger is only superior in armour protection (Frontal 15 vs.13). Nevertheless, the T26E4 Super Pershing’s very respectable frontal armour is enough to stand up to the German Big Cats especially at long range. Image gallery USAB09-19.png|The T26E4 Super Pershing unit card. Pershings_04.JPG|M26 Pershing tanks during assembly. One tank has been built using parts both from the TANKS blister and the UBX43 platoon set. Pershings_05.JPG|The differences between the T26E4 Super Pershing (left) and the M26 Pershing (right). US_26 (1).JPG|A mixed US Army tank company composed of M26 Pershings and 76mm M4 Sherman tanks. UBX43.jpg|The UBX43 box front art. M26-Pershing-Platoon-advert.jpg|The 2015 advertisement material promoting the UBX43 box set. Category:Vehicles Category:Tanks Category:Armoured Tanks Category:Late-war Category:American Category:Allied Category:Tank Teams